A United Methodist minister's musings on faith, culture and just about anything or anybody that strikes his fancy.

Maintaining Love & Innocence (Lent, Day Seven)

13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them.

14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

— From Mark 10

How do we lose such loving innocence as this? And how am I responsible as an adult for the loss of any child’s innocence in such a small, global world as the one we live in now?

Photographer Marco Mancinelli shot this arresting photo in an inner-city Montessori school for The Detroit News, which published it full-size on the back page.

For today’s Lenten meditation, sit with the picture and reflect on it a while.

1. What does it say about us all being born as innocent children of God — about us being created in the image of God?

2. It goes without saying that a child’s growth and earliest formation can only begin in, near and around the home. That said, the world is small now because of constant, instant communications, news and information.

So I wonder . . . . If it takes a village — that is, a loving, nourishing community as well as loving parents or caretakers in the home — to raise a healthy, well-adjusted child who knows right from wrong and wants only to do what’s right, what does it require of us all beyond that village as spiritually mature, Christian adults in such a “small world?”

3. We might ask ourselves: How spiritually mature have I been this week, this year — in recent years. Am I in the same state of mind, body, spirit and soul I was 40 years ago? 10 years ago? Last year? Am I stuck in the same old ruts, spinning my spiritual wheels?

Or have I grown more self aware of my flaws and faults and my propensity for certain sins?

And back to the children . . . . am I the kind of spiritually mature Christian any impressionable child anywhere in the world would want to emulate? I’m I committed to doing everything I can to build up the kingdom of God on this earth as it is in heaven?

Or, having always been aware of my flaws and faults and propensity for certain sins, how have I managed them lately?

We all have those bad habits and patterns; the great St. Paul himself lamented the hardship of managing his sinful repeats, confessing that he did the very things he wished not to do.

John Wesley didn’t believe we’re saved in any one event in time. He believed that once we’ve achieved salvation, we can easily sin it away no matter how much we deceive ourselves into believing we’ve been given a one-stop, one-way ticket to God’s welcoming banquet.

The path to the divine requires constant growth, and that requires child-like awareness of what love in the world looks like.